House Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump said they found “many important areas of common ground” after their first major meeting together, and said they intend to meet periodically in the coming months.
“[It] is critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda, and do all we can to win this fall. With that focus, we had a great conversation this morning,” Ryan’s office wrote in a joint statement with the Trump campaign Thursday morning.
Ryan has yet to say he can support Trump, but some Republicans have said they expect he will get there, and the joint statement indicated the two believe there is a way to meet in the middle.
“While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground,” the statement continued. “We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal.”
Trump and Ryan met at the Republican National Committee’s headquarters Thursday morning, along with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. The billionaire went on to meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP lawmakers in separate meetings on Capitol Hill.
While Trump gears up for a general election battle against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, he has sought to assuage the existing concerns Ryan and others have about the policies he’s put forward.
For example, the New York businessman said late Wednesday night that his previous call for a “total and complete ban” on Muslims entering the U.S. was “only a suggestion.” Ryan had said days earlier that Trump’s Muslim ban was one policy he particularly opposed.
The Wisconsin Republican also spoke with ex-White House hopeful Ben Carson Tuesday evening, ahead of his meeting with Trump, and had previously said he was just interested in getting to know the billionaire better.
“This was our first meeting, but it was a very positive step toward unification,” Ryan and Trump said in the joint statement.
Their full joint statement follows:
The United States cannot afford another four years of the Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents. That is why it’s critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda, and do all we can to win this fall. With that focus, we had a great conversation this morning. While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal. We are extremely proud of the fact that many millions of new voters have entered the primary system, far more than ever before in the Republican Party’s history. This was our first meeting, but it was a very positive step toward unification.
